How do I use the gold sticker that came with my logbook?

Inspection Sticker Ticket?

• I live in Louisiana and got pulled over late at night after getting off from work. The infraction occurred on a pitch black overpass. I stopped at the stop sign of the overpass and turned left. The officer who pulled me over cited me for a rolling stop at a stop sign. Not true. I'm not sure where the officer was in relation to my car when he saw the perceived action, but I didn't remember there being any cars on the road behind or in front of me when the turn was made. After I mad the turn and drove a quarter of a mile to a light, a car came up behind me. I thought nothing of it. I turned left at the light and went another quarter of a mile and the officer flagged me right before a gas station. The odd part about this is that I have seen many cars stopped at this gas station before. Irrelevant, but I thought that I would point it out. The officer saw that I did not have an inspection sticker, but within the past five years I have had the vehicle registered in five different states and I am in school. My dad was moving around and I had it registered in the state he was in. My car had not been registered for 2 full years in the state of LA at the time of the ticket. I have a clean driving record. Zero accidents. I had my hearing and plead not guilty to both charges. Each one is $150 for a total of $300. I talked to the prosecutor and he said that he will drop the rolling stop charge if I plead guilty to and pay the inspection sticker. I would receive no points and not have to take $35 driving school to remove the stop sign charge. So I would be left with $150 instead of $300. I am thinking whether to take it or fight it in court. I tried to explain to the prosecutor that I was unaware that I needed an inspection sticker because the previous two state I had it registered in did not require one. I had never even heard of them before. He was indifferent to my plea though. There are no additional court cost if I were to lose. Part of me wonders if the prosecutor might try to use the fact that he offered me a plea deal and I refused it to get the judge to lean his way and make an example of me by giving me the full amount plus the traffic school if I want it removed. I'm not trying to be above the law. I just didn't know that I needed a sticker and my vehicle is less than two years registered and the DMV said nothing of an inspection sticker. As far as the rolling stop, I think that it is flimsy. I don't see how he could have seen whether or not my wheels came to a complete stop at 10:30 at night in pitch black darkness. I would appreciate any advice, especially any from residents of Louisiana that have dealt with this. Should I take the deal or fight it? A. Take the plea deal and pay $150. Stop sign moving violation thrown out. B. Fight it in court and pay either zero if I win or $335 (two tickets plus driving school to avoid moving violation going on record) For anyone who is curious, the rolling stop was NOT blatant. I don't even believe I did it and if I did, it was borderline. So borderline that I doubt someone would be able to tell in complete darkness. Plus, it happened on an overpass and the concrete guard rails would obstruct view from the side. Also, when I first went to the prosecutor, he seem reluctant to make a deal, but as I continued to talk and showed him a copy of my driving record (TN driving record; as I got a LA license at the same time I registered the vehicle and needed my prior driving record) and a copy of the inspection sticker receipt for the MVI sticker that I bought 14 hours after being stopped, he was more eager to make a deal. Was he being nice or simply knows that the judge would probably dismiss both and figured that it was better to get one charge rather than neither?

• Answer:

  I would take the deal. Most traffic ticket fights are futile unless you have SOLID proof you did nothing wrong. And I hate to say it, but 99% of the time the defendant did commit the violation whether or not they want to admit it. It's really not that big of a deal. Just pay the crap and get it over with, even most cops get a ticket at some point in their lives...most people do. taking it to court will just start pissing everyone off over something minor.